A Ginger Gift or A Cat for Christmas
by skiesfallithurts
Summary: Donald Ressler gave up on miracles. But they didn't give up on him.


For Donald Ressler, the Special Agent with the FBI, Christmas was just another night of three hundred sixty-five days of the year.

If Donald was lucky, he spent it at home watching the busy street stall from neverending snow. Unfortunately, a bunch of folks off their rocker were more common than Christmas miracles.

Anyways, there was one undeniable downside about Christmas.

_The gifts._

One couldn't say Don was a penny-pinching skinflint: at times he would bring take-out Chinese for his colleagues or foot the bill at the bar. And he was even more than okay to lay out a few thousands for a fancy watch.

It's just sometimes there was no one to give a gift to.

With this thought in mind, Ressler found himself at the aisle with toys. He had no slightest idea what brought him here, at the kids toys store.

"Mom, look! It's Tom!" The joyful squeal nearby had almost made him drop a red-and-black toy train.

"But sweetie, you already have him."

"I have Silvester, Mom. And _this_ is Tom!'

A brown-haired little girl was beggingly looking at her mother. To girl's left, on the shelf, the grey-and-white cats were piled in a neat mountain.

The woman wearily sighed, and adjusted her loose light-brown hair.

The gesture stirred his memory.

_"You forgot about it again, Donnie."_

The memory quickly faded.

"...Okay, show it."

Donald forced himself back into the reality, ignoring a stab of sorrow somewhere at his chest.

"Dear guests, we are pleased to inform you..."

The ad sank into an insanely ear-splitting _I Wish You a Merry Christmas_ cover crashing all over the mall.

A few more minutes at this cacophonous hell, and the idea to use this song at interrogations wouldn't be that much absurd. He gotta shoot a text to his partner later. Officially the FBI didn't do that kind of thing. It was the CIA's sandbox to play.

The song followed by a buzzing hubbub of the _Gallery Place_ visitors. It seemed half of Washington D.C. decided to shop till they drop on the last day before Christmas.

Not far from the aisles rattled some angry voices.

"Not fair, Hannah! I ride him first!"

"No, Peter! I'm first!"

"But Hannah!"

Three unicorn dressed shop assistants were doing their best to engage a gang of extremely excited kids into some activities.

Meanwhile, the little girl Donald noticed before, was retelling something, eagerly gesturing and hopping.

"...So he runs, then jumps and..."

The woman absent-mindedly patted her daughter's head, looking around.

Unexpectedly for Donald their eyes met.

_The same._

_"Don't look at me like that, Don."_

_"How?"_

_"Like a wolf at Red Riding Hood."_

Ressler brushed the memory off his mind.

"Ple-ease, Mom! I'll behave, I promise!"

The girl hang onto her mother's arm. Her mother didn't say a word. The trick wasn't working, so the girl sat on the floor and crossed her hands on the chest.

The woman muttered something about brand-new jeans cleanup, and Ressler gave her a knowing smile. She returned him a weary, exhausted grin.

But she didn't get to set things right as the girl jumped up like a grasshopper and cheerfully squealed:

"Mom, look, look! Him! I want him!"

The girl tugged at her mother's sleeve, pointing at a chubby ginger cat in Ressler's hands. The tag on its tail said "_Rub me!"_

Donald didn't register at what exact moment he picked it. He'd never been into cats. He accidentally brushed the cat's tummy. The cat meowed loudly and then purred for almost twenty seconds.

_"Oh, c'mon, Don, don't tell me you're scared of cats."_

_"I'm not! It's just... They don't like me."_

_"Really? And that black-and-white feline at Daisy and Stephen's? She'd been glued into your lap the entire evening."_

_"She's small, okay? And you're talking about a big and cocky jerk of a tomcat."_

_"Yes" to felines but "no" to tomcats? Admit it, competition scares you."_

_"Audrey!.."_

"Audrey Williams, where are your manners?!"

"S-sorry."

"It's okay," Ressler said, stepping aside from the shelf.

He could barely recognize himself: his eyes stung so bad like he had been locked up for a thousand years in the dark. And this was the first time he ever saw the light.

The girl hid behind her mother's back.

Donald used the opportunity to show his badge. Given the circumstances, one could question his presence here. He had almost laughed at his own thoughts.

Yeah, he'd surely have approached a grown-ass guy lurking with no purpose at the kids toys store. And he'd definitely ask him what the hell he was doing here.

The woman approvingly nodded.

"Enough, Audrey. You're a big girl already."

The girl cautiously looked out of her mother's arm, nervously twisting one of the many buttons on her coat. No one seemed to stop her, so she took a small step forward.

Again, no one said nothing. This time, more confident, Audrey stepped closer to Ressler.

Donald crouched in front of the girl, handing her a toy.

"Take a good care of him, okay?"

Audrey eagerly nodded.

"Of course!"

She pressed the cat tightly to herself, staring at Donald with keen interest.

"Audrey, what did you forget to say?" her mother preached.

"Thank you, mister!"

Before Ressler knew it, Audrey dashed to him, and hugged him so tight he'd almost fell.

"Audrey!" Her mother was terrified. It was embarrassing enough she had asked for a toy.

_And now this! Hugging a stranger!_

But Audrey didn't seem to care a bit. She was occupied with a stranger in a suit.

_His tie's same as Dad's!_

He smelled like coffee. It's funny. Her Daddy smelled like that too. But Mom said, she was too small for coffee. She likes tea, anyway. And gingerbread biscuits.

"Your eyes green! Just like him!" Audrey almost jumped with excitement, shaking her cat. "And ginger hair! Can I call him Ginger? Pretty please?"

"Of course, sweeteart."

Ressler was choosing the words with extreme care, trying to catch his breath. His throat felt filled with a giant balloon someone blew up over and over.

"Promise me one thing." Donald put a hand on her shoulder.

Audrey proudly threw her chest out.

"Be a good girl and listen to your mom."

"I will, I promise!" Audrey excitedly replied, squeezing her cat tighter.

Giving Ressler a hug again, Audrey rushed back to her mother.

The woman's features softened when Audrey tried to hug her too. She patted her daughter's head again.

"I'm very sorry. I hope we're not interrupting... You obviously prepared it for someone."

_"C'mon, Donnie, open it!"_

_"Huh? What's the occasion?"_

_"Your birthday, silly."_

Ressler shook his head. "It's fine, no worries."

"Celine Williams." They shook hands. Celine glanced at her daughter. "And you've already met Audrey."

Audrey gave him a sly smile.

"Donald. Donald Ressler."

"Donald? Like Donald Duck?" Audrey wondered, her eyes sparked with adoration.

It was the first time he genuinely laughed since Audrey, his fiancé died.

"Audrey!.. Oh, I'm afraid we have to leave. Thank you very much. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" Audrey waved him goodbye.

"You too!"

Smiling as they walked away, Donald hadn't noticed a tiny tear dropped off his cheek.

_Fin._


End file.
